


a line we drew in the array

by winteryknights (BlackcatNamedlucky)



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Universe Alteration, different buckley family secret, wrote this bc i lost a bet n im Not Sure How To Tag It
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-15 20:26:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29320131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackcatNamedlucky/pseuds/winteryknights
Summary: Chimney is going to break. He really is. He loves Maddie, he would die for her, he would probably kill for her, and he issograteful that she feels safe enough with him to share the hard parts of her past, but heneverwanted to know this secret. Not least because it involvesBuck, and Chimney has to see the man practically every day and justnot tell himthishuge, life-altering thing.So, yeah, Chimney is going to break, and the way he’s been trying to pawn the secret off onto other people means it’ll probably happen sooner rather than later.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han, Evan "Buck" Buckley & Maddie Buckley
Comments: 4
Kudos: 74





	a line we drew in the array

Chimney is going to break. He really is. He loves Maddie, he would die for her, he would probably kill for her, and he is _so_ grateful that she feels safe enough with him to share the hard parts of her past, but he _never_ wanted to know this secret. Not least because it involves _Buck_ , and Chimney has to see the man practically every day and just _not tell him_ this _huge, life-altering thing._ So, yeah, Chimney is going to break, and the way he’s been trying to pawn the secret off onto other people means it’ll probably happen sooner rather than later.

And, honestly, he kind of hopes it does, because if he keeps avoiding Buck the way he has been, he’s pretty sure someone’s gonna notice.

He’s pretty sure people have already noticed.

He’s almost certain that Buck has _definitely_ noticed.

For God’s sake, he’d told a man who was _trying to bomb a factory._

…Maybe he’d already broken.

So, when Maddie gets home from the grocery store that day, the first thing he says to her is, “You have _got_ to tell Buck. If not for his sake, then do it for mine, because I’m going insane trying to keep it from him.”

He wishes he’d waited just a second longer to speak when he sees Buck standing behind her, bags in hand and betrayal in his eyes. Chimney’s skin starts to itch.

There’s a beat of silence, then Buck looks between him and Maddie. “What?”

Chimney sighs. “Shit.”

Buck stares at him for a minute, brow furrowed and Chimney can imagine the twist of his mouth under his mask. In the moment, he kind of hates that he knows it will be mirrored on Maddie’s lips. He doesn’t need to be reminded of how close they are, how similar.

Buck adjusts the grip on the bag in his hand, and Maddie does the same, and Chimney tries not to see it.

“Maddie,” Buck starts, drawing out the syllables of her name. His eyes are still fixed on Chimney. “What is he talking about?”

They haven’t moved from the doorway and everything feels too much like it’s on display.

“I’m so sorry,” Chimney says. “I didn’t know he was with you.”

“I texted you,” Maddie responds, her tone too even.

“Maddie,” Buck says again, voice firmer. “What aren’t you telling me?”

Maddie’s mask moves ever so slightly, a suggestion of the way she clenches her jaw when she’s trying not to show how upset she really is. “Let’s put all this away,” she says, and starts walking to the refrigerator. “We got perishables and it was already hot in the car.”

Buck seems to follow her on auto-pilot, nudging the apartment door closed with his foot as he passes Chimney.

“Maddie, please, don’t pretend I didn’t just hear that,” Buck’s voice is run through with a thin strand of pleading and it twists something in Chimney’s gut.

“I’m not going to. We’re going to put this away, and then I’ll tell you.”

“I’m so sorry,” Chimney says again, feeling like there’s nothing else he can say.

“Don’t be,” they both respond, at the same time.

Once the groceries are put away Chimney offers to leave the siblings alone, but Maddie seems to panic at the notion of doing this by herself so, instead, he sits on his couch, feeling like an intruder in his own home, while Maddie gets a family photo album from their bedroom.

When she returns, it’s opened to a picture of Buck’s family, presumably in a church. She hands the book to Buck and points out the couple in the middle of the group— a tall woman with long, brown hair wearing a flowy, floral print dress, next to a lanky, balding man with a thin mustache over his lip who’s wearing a suit. The woman is holding a baby and smiling so brightly that Chimney can feel her happiness through the film.

It dawns on him, then, who this is a picture of, as Buck takes the book and Maddie sits down.

“That’s uh, Aunt Susan and Uncle Bill,” Maddie confirms. “Do you remember what Mom and Dad told you about them?”

“Uh, yeah,” Buck says, “they died in a car accident, or something, right? Before I was born? But, Maddie, that’s—” Buck cuts himself off, looking between Maddie and Chimney, “I don’t understand, why are you bringing this up?”

Maddie looks lost, so Chimney covers her hand with his own and it seems to give her the strength she was looking for. She sits up straighter and takes a deep breath. “It happened a little over 5 months after you were born. They were on their way to our house, to pick you up, because Mom and Dad had been watching you. For them.” Maddie pauses and holds Buck’s gaze for a beat, then, “Uh, A-Aunt Susan, she was your mother.”

Buck leans back in his chair, regarding Maddie with shining eyes. He’s silent for a long moment, the only sound in the apartment the humming of the refrigerator and the echoes of carefully controlled breaths. Then, in a voice so small Chimney can hardly believe it came from Buck, “Why didn’t anybody tell me?”

“Mom and Dad, they wanted to protect you—” Buck scoffs at that, but Maddie keeps going, “and I guess everyone else just thought it would be easier. You were so young, there was no way you’d have been able to remember her. Why bring up the pain?”

“Why didn’t _you_?”

Maddie looks small, then, and grips Chimney’s hand tighter. “Mom and Dad made me promise, and then, well we lost touch, and then I just didn’t know how to bring it up.”

Something hardens in Buck’s face and he stands, pacing behind his chair. “But you told Chimney,” he says, voice like flint. “You told Chimney, and he’s the _only_ reason I had _any_ chance to know about this.”

If Chimney felt like this was a conversation he shouldn’t be privy to _before_ , he feels it a hundred times stronger now. “Should I…go?”

Both Buck and Maddie turn to look at him, simultaneously snapping “No!”, so Chimney sinks as far into his seat as he can as Maddie stands and walks up to Buck.

“Look, I didn’t know if you would even _want_ to know.”

Buck stops his pacing and stares at Maddie like she’s a stranger who’s just tried to pick a fight. “Was _I_ supposed to know? Was _I_ supposed to know if I wanted the lie that was my whole life to be pulled out from under me? _God_.” He steps back, shaking his head at Maddie. “Well,” he huffs, still walking backwards, and grabs his mask off the counter. “At least now I know why you were always the favorite,” he says, and walks out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after losing a bet on what I thought the Buckley family secret would be. genuinely had a lot of fun with it! (don't tell anyone, but I was kinda hoping I would lose the bet so I could write this...)  
> I hope you enjoyed!  
> you can find me on tumblr at [the-sneering-menagerie](https://the-sneering-menagerie.tumblr.com)  
> as always, comments and kudos make my day!


End file.
